Sunday, March 9, 2014

Mucci Imports showcases Lambrusco, Fiano and Arneis

The other night I attended a tasting at
Ball Square Fine Wines
and they were featuring wines from Mucci
Imports. It was a pleasure meeting Nick as he shares the same
vision as I do in promoting Italian wines in the US. What I think is
great is that his portfolio of wines that he carries promotes wines
from smaller family owned wine estates that are producing quality
wines that may not get the recognition in the states compared to the
more well known producers in Italy. Some of my best visits
throughout the wine regions of Italy were also stopping in at some of
the smaller producers and getting to the know the family, the
winemakers, the terroir and land. It's beautiful to visit some
wineries and meet multiple generations that are involved in the
winery and share the traditions and passion together.

Casa di Baal (Campania wine region)Nick featured wines from Piedmont,
Campania and Emilia-Romagna. With my recent blog on Campania and the
wines from this region that you can visit here,
we'll start with the Casa di
Baal Fiano. The Salerno family has been selling their wines
since 1978 and are located a couple miles from the Amalfi coastline
about 150 meters from sea-level close to Avellino. They follow
organic winemaking practices to showcase the fruit as natural as
possible. This wine was a light to medium body that was dry and
smooth with apples and hints of honey aged 6 months in stainless
steel. This wine is perfect for its location due to the proximity
near the Tyrrhenian Sea to pair with seafood.

Fiano grape

Negro Lorenzo (Piedmont wine region)

Next was a white, '11 Arneis, and red
named “Arbasca” from the producer Negro Lorenzo in the Roero area
of Piedmont. This area has a lot of sandier soil so you could pick
up the minerality in the Arneis. It was dry and crisp complemented
with some citrus and pineapple and finishing with a zing of acidity.
Arneis is a grape that you may or may not be familiar with. It is
primarily found in the Piedmont region in the Roero or Lange areas,
but other countries are producing more of it including the US,
Australia and New Zealand. The '09 “Arbesca” was a red blend of
70% Bonarda and the rest Nebbiolo. This wine was dry style of dark
fruit finishing with some tannins. This wine was drinking well now.

Cantina della Volta (Emilia-Romagna wine region)Lastly we finished with the Cantina
della Volta Lambrusco di Modena Spumante D.O.C. in the Emilia
Romagna region in north central Italy. Cantina della Volta started
in the year 2010 by friends whom invited the winemaker, Christian
Bellei, to bring with him his knowledge of growing up in his family's
wine estate, Francesco Bellei & C, that had been established in
1920. I have had Lambrusco before, but in a sweeter version where
this was a brut style. I'm not a big fan of sparkling wines, but if
you enjoy champagnes and such you will want to give this a try. It
was produced by the Lambrusco di Sorbara grapes. It displayed a
beautiful light raspberry color that was very dry, hence “brut”,
upon taste with frothy small bubbles with some strawberry undertones.
A great celebration wine or perfect for a summer day with cheese.

We covered some grapes and wines that
hadn't been discussed yet on my blog like Lambrusco from the Sorbara
grapes, Bonarda and Arneis. As we continue to explore all regions we
will revisit grapes and regions over time and continue to explore new
ones. I hope you are enjoying the journey and as always I would love
to hear from you!